Ministry of Youth: Child Marriage Has Quadrupled in Some Parts of Iran
The Ministry of Sports and Youth has warned of a fourfold increase in child marriage and attributed it to increased marriage loans. No age restrictions have been applied for those accessing marriage facilities, leaving the door open for child exploitation.
A senior official at the Ministry of Sports and Youth has warned of a fourfold increase in child marriage in Iran, attributing it to increased marriage loans. This senior official does not view marriage facilities as a step toward increasing marriage rates in the country. This is while the institution providing marriage facilities has not imposed age restrictions for accessing these loans, and according to experts, has left the door open for child exploitation.
Mohammad Mehdi Tandgoyan, Deputy for Youth Affairs at the Ministry of Sports and Youth of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has reported a fourfold increase in child marriage in Iran following the increase in marriage loans.
According to Tandgoyan, poor parents in deprived areas who sometimes also suffer from cultural poverty are “trading” their underage children following the increase in marriage loans.
The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports expressed his dissatisfaction on Tuesday, December 10, in an interview with ISNA regarding the increase in marriage loans and their repayment terms, stating that this measure has not only failed to increase marriage rates but has also created conditions for the growth of social harms.
Tandgoyan warned about the abuse of marriage facilities and said: “Statistics show that following the increase in marriage loans, child marriage has also significantly increased in some areas, and at least compared to last year [year 97], this issue has increased fourfold in some parts of the country.”
Based on information contained in the “Marriage Interest-Free Loan Facilities” system of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, each bride and groom receive 30 million tomans in marriage facilities after completing the registration process. Each couple must pay approximately 1.1 million tomans monthly in installments to repay this loan, a figure that according to Mohammad Mehdi Tandgoyan exceeds the financial capacity of many young people.
Age Restrictions for Marriage Loans
The question that arises in this context is whether the law has considered a mechanism to protect children in deprived areas and whether age restrictions are applied for accessing interest-free marriage loan facilities.
Referring to the Central Bank’s system in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section shows that no age restrictions have been considered for accessing these facilities, and it is explicitly stated in the system: “Initially, both the bride and groom register separately in the marriage system, and after determining the branch and completing the relevant procedures, marriage facilities are paid to their legal guardian or custodian.”
What Do Statistics Say About Child Marriage?
Tayebeh Siavoshi, a member of the Women’s Faction in Parliament, stated in September of this year, citing civil registry statistics, that in the first six months of 1397, the marriage rate of girls (10 to 14 years old) was approximately 7 percent of all marriages, meaning 17,486 cases.
Based on a report from the “Cultural Studies Office of the Research Center of Parliament,” between years 91 and 95, 4.9 to 5.6 percent of girls’ marriages were in the age group of 10 to 14 years. The Director General of the Civil Registry of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad had previously reported registering 9 marriages of children under 10 years of age in year 96 in the province.
Since many underage marriages in Iran are not registered, accurate statistics on them are not available.
Society’s Sensitivity to Child Marriage
While a senior official at the Ministry of Sports and Youth warned of the fourfold increase in early marriages, society has become more sensitive to this issue than before and is taking a strong stance against it.
The latest case of underage marriage that became media news and sparked public outrage on social networks was the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to a young man in the city of “Behbahan” in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province in September of year 97, which was annulled following public pressure and the pursuit of civil activists and local authorities in the province.
In the final days of year 97, the story of a child’s life unfolded in the media; the story of an 11-year-old girl, residing in Ilam, who was married to a 50-year-old man. According to Imam Ali Society’s report, this girl’s drug-addicted family married her off to a 50-year-old man with seven children and another wife for 15 million tomans. The pursuit by this non-governmental organization and the Welfare Organization bore fruit, and the girl, named “Raha,” was rescued from this life.
Source: DW
